I was originally dreading the composition of this review because of what, at the time, appeared to be the utter mediocrity of this release – it appears this characterization was an utter mistake. I can’t even begin to describe my frustration as this CD began to crumble under its own weight upon repeated listens.

Rosa kicks off with some pretty gosh-darn beautiful post-rock on the opening title track: shimmering guitars, bombastic percussion, and that sparkly Magic Kingdom fireworks atmosphere. For seven minutes, this release is perfect. And then…BOOM! ILLUSION SHATTERED. Josh Groban* enters the recording booth, an incredibly inappropriate underwater choral vibe dominates the mix, and unicorns die forever. I weep.

If Autumn Chorus were to give this review a rewrite, while preserving the intent, it might look a bit like this:

“Long-winded and overblown are what came to mind as I listened to this utterly long-winded and sheerly overblown piece of overly indulgent and very, very long 3 song effort (but these 3 songs are so utterly over-the-top in their grandiose epicness that it feels like 30 songs!). PS: This release is over-the-top.”

What? You didn’t catch the overtones? I know, I know. It was subtle. So, let me spell it out: this release becomes redundant after three listens, the pseudo-operatic vocals on “Rosa” are horribly out-of-place, and the closing song (“Remember the Dead”) is six amelodic minutes of masturbatory filler.

-Andy Kissner

*Writer's Note: It’s not really Josh Groban.